Harvey: Brooks would look good in Rockets uniform now

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There is no question Jordan Hamilton has shown promise since the Rockets acquired the power forward at the trading deadline. The price at the time didn’t seem too high, sending third-team point guard Aaron Brooks to Denver in exchange.

The risk was in whether point guards Patrick Beverley and Jeremy Lin could remain healthy for the remainder of the season.

General manager Daryl Morey downplayed that by saying the coaches were confident Isaiah Canaan was ready to step up in place of Brooks.

We’ll find out.

Beverley reportedly suffered a torn meniscus in Thursday night’s victory over Philadelphia and could be out through the playoffs. Lin will move into the starting lineup and Canaan into the primary backup role at a most inopportune time, for Saturday night’s game at Toyota Center against the Los Angeles Clippers. The Rockets have yet to beat the Clippers in three tries this season and are battling with them to become the Western Conference’s third-seeded team.

Brooks was available to the Rockets in all three of those losses to the Clippers so his presence back on the Rockets’ bench wouldn’t have guaranteed success. But his shooting ability, plus the fact he was the only Rockets point guard who knew how to consistently deliver the ball to Dwight Howard in the low post, could have been a plus.

There is never a good time for an injury to a starter, but this is a particularly bad time for the Rockets. Their most reliable starting lineup this season has been James Harden, Chandler Parsons, Terrence Jones, Howard and Beverley. Having to adjust again due to injury will rob them of some momentum going into the playoffs.

Those who believed they could contend to reach the Western Conference finals no doubt are reconsidering now.